Market Farming Basics

If you're thinking about, or just getting started in direct market farming, welcome to the business! It's a great way to make a livelihood. Being a farmer means working outdoors, being your own boss, meeting challenges and surmounting them, caring for a piece of land, and, most of all, doing the important work of feeding people.

All over the United States and Canada, families are making a decent income from direct marketing of food and flowers. Their businesses range from the 1-acre market garden that provides extra income for retirement or college, to the 100-acre vegetable farm that supports several generations. Market farmers come from all walks of life -- from conventional farms, of course, but also from urban occupations with no farming experience.

Market farming is also unique in that it doesn't take a lot to get started -- a few acres, some basic equipment, a love of growing things, an intellectual curiosity, and a genuine enjoyment of hard work.

Growing for Market has been providing growers with practical information about the craft of market farming for more than 20 years. Much of that timeless information is available on this website. The articles below are free for you to read, print, or forward to a friend. If you like what you see here, please subscribe! Full Access online membership gives you access to more than 1,200 articles published since 2001, plus a full year's subscription. Or you can choose to get it all on paper with the Beginner's Special, which includes printed compilations and back issues from 2001 through 2011. Click here for a list of other subscription options.

These articles have recently been added to Growing for Market Online

Lettuce for all markets and all seasons Mar 1, 2013: Here are some facts about lettuce that may surprise you: It is the most valuable vegetable crop in the United States, with sales of $2.2 billion in 2010. (Fresh tomatoes were a distant second at $1.4 billion.) Lettuce alone accounts for 19% of all fresh vegetable sales in the U.S. Iceberg lettuce is still the dominant type, accounting for 53% of total lettuce value, but its popularity has been dropping, while head and romaine lettuces have been increasing steadily and salad mixes have been skyrocketing in popularity.

10 Tips for Heirloom Tomatoes Feb 1, 2013: Heirloom tomatoes are a popular crop for many growers, bringing both a price premium and droves of customers in search of old-fashioned tomato flavor. Heirloom tomatoes can be tricky, though, requiring more labor and producing lower yields than modern tomato varieties.

Three steps to pest management Jun 1, 2012: This year’s warm winter and early spring have created some unusual pest management problems for growers. In some cases, insect pests and diseases have become active earlier and are more abundant than usual. They may be damaging crops not typically affected. There may even be some pest species that are not normally found on your farm. Whatever pest pressure you may be seeing this year, you can attack the problem in three steps: Identify the pest; choose appropriate pest control products if necessary; and implement management practices to reduce pest pressure in the future.

Greens and lettuce salad mixes May 1, 2012: Greens are quick, easy crops that can be grown year-round to meet the constant demand for them. Greens can become one of the foundation crops on which a market farm depends; with proper scheduling, they will bring in steady income without a lot of fuss.

Autumn Offerings Apr 1, 2012: Autumn can be a profitable season for local growers, but it requires a lot of planning far in advance to get a good crop mix in sufficient volume. Many of the best fall crops — think pumpkins and Brussels sprouts — take more than 100 days to mature. That means spring is the time to analyze potential markets, schedule plantings, and order seeds. In this issue of the JSS Advantage, we’ll suggest crops that will keep you selling at least until Thanksgiving.

Pelleted Seeds for Accurate Sowing, Reduced Thinning Feb 1, 2012: The popularity of pelleted seeds continues to grow among market farmers and serious gardeners. Pelleting is a process in which small or irregularly shaped seeds are coated with an inert material to make them round and uniform. The benefits of pelleting are numerous:

Choose Peppers to Support Local, Ethnic, and Regional Markets Feb 1, 2012: Expand your market by growing a wide selection of peppers. Hot and sweet peppers are used in cuisines around the world so the more types of peppers you offer customers, the more likely you are to find buyers. Think of all the cuisines that use peppers: Mexican, Southwestern, Cajun, Indian, Thai, Italian, Ethiopian...the list goes on and on.

AgSquared and Moveable caterpillar tunnels Feb 1, 2012

Diversification strategies for market farms Nov 1, 2011: Among successful market farms, there is a trend toward diversification and away from specialization. As growers gain experience, they tend to add new crops and markets and extend their seasons. They find ways to maximize income from everything they grow and put all their land to good use.

Tips for Successful Winter Growing Oct 1, 2011: With the inexpensive protection of a caterpillar tunnel or Quick Hoops™ low tunnel, many crops can be harvested throughout the winter. Initial crop selection is critical. The best crops for winter harvest include hardy greens such as arugula, mache, mustard, and spinach; and root crops such as beets, carrots, leeks, and radishes. Within those categories, look for varieties with special cold tolerance, denoted with the snowflake symbol.